Georgia

The NAACP chapter in Atlanta, Georgia, has demanded the destruction of a famous, engraved Confederate depiction near their city. The largest bas-relief in the world, sculpted on the north face of Stone Mountain, just a 30-minute drive east of Atlanta, the relief consists of Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.

A recent petition garnering a lot of attention offers an alternate solution. Instead of demanding the artwork be erased, artist Mack Williams is requesting to add members of Outkast, the world famous rap duo who originated in Atlanta, to the background of the Confederate depiction. Outkast, comprised of members Andre 3000 and Big Boi, has been vital to Georgian culture over the years and many argue that the duo needs to be properly recognized for its work.

“By no means do we wish to erase or destroy the current carving, which, regardless of its context, is an impressive and historic work of art,” the petition states. “We simply wish to add new carvings, of Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast, to the mountainside. There’s plenty of room.”

The petition needs at least 2,000 signatures to be presented to the Georgia state house, senate, and governor, Nathan Deal. According to CNN, 5,600 people have already signed the petition, believing this is a SpottieOttieDopaliscious compromise that will not have people needing to say, “Sorry Mr. Jackson.”

Johnny Isakson, the two-term senator from Georgia, has been talking for nearly a year about running for reelection, and he officially announced his intention to run just days after last November’s midterm election. And when the 70-year-old Republican announced on Wednesday that he has Parkinson’s disease, he indicated he wasn’t letting his diagnosis change his mind on politics, telling reporters he will “continue to pursue the election in 2016.”

Georgia's new Republican senator David Perdue took his first foreign trip as a member of Congress to Israel. Perdue, the former CEO of Reebok and Dollar General, met with Benjamin Netanyahu and appeared in a video statement with the Israeli prime minister. The Republican said he made his first trip as a sitting senator to Israel to make a statement about his personal support for the Jewish state, and thanked Netanyahu for his "hospitality."

Republican David Perdue has won his race for the U.S. Senate in Georgia against Democrat Michelle Nunn, CNN projects. Perdue is expected to win more than 50 percent of the vote, meaning the race will not have to proceed to a runoff.

Nunn, the daughter of former senator Sam Nunn, was considered one of the Democratic party's top recruits in a year that was otherwise expected to be good for Republicans. She and Perdue are both first-time candidates. Perdue, a businessman, is the cousin of former Republican governor Sonny Perdue.

Senate candidate Michelle Nunn of Georgia refused to say how she would have voted on the Affordable Care Act. While the Democrat was campaigning in Macon Monday, a local TV news reporter asked Nunn about her position on the law.

"Would you have voted for the president's health-care law, if you had the opportunity," the reporter asked.

"So, I've said that I wasn't there, obviously, six years ago," Nunn said. "What I would do is talk about where we should go."

The reporter tried the question again, imploring Nunn to consider it "knowing what you know now."

The grandson of former president Jimmy Carter wants to run for the White House himself, says Georgia governor Nathan Deal. Jason Carter, a young Democratic state senator from Decatur, is challenging the Republican Deal in a close race. Speaking at a rally in Dahlonega, the 72-year-old Deal told the crowd that his Democratic opponent wants to follow in his grandfather's footsteps.

The names to watch in Georgia are Carter, Nunn, and Perdue.

Republican governor Nathan Deal has spent much of his race for reelection talking up Georgia’s progress since he took office in 2011: targeted tax reform, economic development, a bigger education budget. His ads tout that the state has added 175,000 jobs and make the vague, hard-to-verify claim that Georgia is the “number-one place to do business.”

"If Michelle Nunn wins...we can keep on doing some good work."

Barack Obama called into an Atlanta radio station to urge Georgia voters to elect Michelle Nunn to the U.S. Senate so that the president can "keep on doing some good work."

"If Michelle Nunn wins, that means that Democrats keep control of the Senate, and that means that we can keep on doing some good work," said Obama on V-103, an urban contemporary radio station. Listen to the audio below:

Ron Klain, the Democratic political operative tapped by President Obama to run the federal government's response to the Ebola virus outbreak, recently worked as a political adviser to Michelle Nunn, the Georgia Democrat running for the U.S. Senate. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

Ron Klain starts work tomorrow as President Barack Obama’s Ebola “czar,” or point person to coordinate various agencies involved in containing the outbreak.

A video tracker for the opposition research firm America Rising asked Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn whether she voted for President Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections. Nunn, who is in a close race to fill the open Georgia Senate seat, refused to answer the direct question.

Here's video:

"Ms. Nunn, did you vote for President Obama in 2008 and 2012?" the tracker asked.

Hosted by Michael Graham.

The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on the competitive purple state senate races in Iowa and Colorado, and the competitive races in traditionally red states like Georgia and North Carolina.